I finally have my first NetBSD box running although it was not a standard install with the Via C3 cpu. I found that version 4.0.1 needs the 1.6.2 boot block. Version 5.0.1 had to be loaded on another machine but the 5.0.1 boot loader worked fine when the hard drive was transferred back to the Via C3 box with IDE drives. The other Via C3 box with SATA hd and dvdrw would only use the viaide driver in a raid array (only 1 hard drive) and the DVDRW would not work. 5.0.1 had the viaide driver and 4.0.1 used pciide.

I had a mobo go bad on another machine and was wondering if any chipsets were preferred for NetBSD boxes? I only need a single hard drive and dvdrw and would prefer SATA I like systems that have a low power draw and are quiet (Atom or Via C7).

Although I reviewed the hardware compatibilty list I did not always find these quirks listed in the documentation. Any suggestions for chipsets that do not come with too many quirks?